Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.

11/15/2013

Welcome to the website of Girl Scouts of Western New York.

My name is Cindy L. Odom and I'm the CEO for the Girl Scouts of Western New York.

Girl Scouts of the USA was founded in Savannah, Georgia, by Juliette Gordon Low on March 12, 1912, with 18 girls.

Today, with more than 3.2 million girls and adults, the Girl Scout organization is the largest girl educational organization in the world.

Here locally, Girl Scouts of Western New York serves nine counties within the Western New York region. We serve approximately 20,000 girls and over 7,000 adults. Our mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.

Throughout my life, I have been dedicated to empowering girls and young women to soar beyond what they thought they could achieve. As the CEO, it is important to me that every young woman has an opportunity to develop leadership skills, confidence, and self-esteem. I want to create an environment where girls and young women have an opportunity to meet influential people, be creative, and to share and live out their dreams. I’m extremely proud that in Girl Scouting girls learn the importance of community service and giving to those less fortunate not only in their local communities but around the world.

From earning our prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award to attending Girl Scouts Go to Med School or learning about our universe at Rochester Institute of Technology, girls and young women who join Girl Scouts have an opportunity to do amazing things!

Our programming model, The Girl Scout Leadership Experience, is designed to build leadership skills in girls and young women in grades K -12. The leadership principles are based on three keys: Discover, Connect, and Take Action. Girls learn that leadership is an act of discovery and work to understand more about their own values and skills. During connect activities they recognize that a leader must be able to work with others. When the girls take action they understand the importance of leadership in making the world a better place.

The Girl Scouts of Western New York, Inc. brings together the strengths, diversity of experience, and rich history of our four legacy councils and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. We are committed to providing innovative, relevant, girl-centric leadership experience to future generations. With our increased capacity and wealth of expertise, we will provide new opportunities for all girls, including girls in underserved areas throughout our region, by providing access to meaningful programming where girls live and learn.

If you are looking for an all-girl environment that develops leadership skills in girls, please consider the Girl Scouts. We are always looking for adult volunteers who are committed to and passionate about mentoring your women. If you have a half-hour to dedicate to developing girl leaders, please share your talents and abilities with us. This will impact your life forever.

To learn more about Girl Scouting for your daughter or to mentor a young woman, please call 1-888-837-6410. You’ll be glad you did!